By the end of the month, the judicial
supervision of the Police Department
will go into effect, a move that will
allow for better working conditions as well
as a more professional and less politicized
force, the head of the American Civil
Liberties Union (ACLU) in Puerto Rico
said Thursday.
“The last information that we have
is that there has been a request for a
postponement, but we are close to that
police reform in agreement with the
government of Puerto Rico and under the
supervision of the federal court,” ACLU
Executive Director William Ramírez said
in a radio report.
Ramírez was referring to the lawsuit
ﬁ led the U.S. Justice Department against
the local Police Department for allegedly
engaging in a pattern of civil rights
violations. The lawsuit ﬁ led last year took
place as a result of a probe that began in
2008.
The local and federal governments
are still under negotiations to ratify
an agreement on the lawsuit that will
pave the way for a police
reform. There have been
several postponements to the
ratiﬁ cation. Police Chief Héctor
Pesquera said during budget
hearings that Judge Gustavo
Gelpí agreed to allow another
postponement until May 30.
Pesquera at the time
said he needed $20 million to
start implementing the police
reform. He did not know how
much the reform will cost
altogether...

By EVA LLORENS VELEZ
I
n an unusual move, Gov. Alejandro García Padilla met with
the House majority Thursday to
pressure them into voting for a bill
that would ban job discrimination
on the basis of sexual orientation.
García Padilla said at a news
conference that Senate Bill 238 had
the votes for approval after amendments were made to clarify that the
bill had nothing to do with samesex marriage.
“I would have signed it as it
was passed by the Senate, but it
has suffered amendments and both
presidents have offered guarantees
that the government platform will
be respected,” the governor said.
While neither Senate Bill 238
nor House Bill 488, which would
extend domestic violence protections to all kinds of couples, were
in the session’s calendar, legal advisers and legislative sources assured reporters that the bills were expected to go to a vote in Thursday’s
session. However, as of press time
at 6:30 p.m., the session had not
started and ofﬁ cials had not made
the announcement that the bills
were going to go for a vote.
House Alternate Minority Leader Carlos Méndez said that except
for House Minority Leader Jenniffer González, the New Progressive
Party (NPP) delegation was going
to oppose the bills.
Early in the day he had urged
the majority to ﬁ le a substitute bill
similar to one approved a year ago
by the then NPP-controlled House
that was more speciﬁ c about job
discrimination against gays. Popular Democratic Party (PDP) Rep.
Luis Vega Ramos reiterated remarks he made to the Star on Wednesday in that he would amend the
supremacy clause in Senate Bill 238
to appease religious sectors that
said the clause will pave the way
for same-sex marriage.
The supremacy clause states
that any laws or rules that are inconsistent with the proposed bill
must be amended or repealed.
García Padilla, who met with
the majority senators after his meeting with the representatives, said
he believed the clariﬁ cation was
not really needed because the supremacy clause could not be interpreted as leading to same-sex marriage.
“Some lawmakers wanted the
language to be clariﬁ ed,” he said.
Regarding House Bill 488,
Vega Ramos had told the Star that
he had amended it so that Law 54
protections can cover all kinds of
people regardless of whether they
are part of a couple or not.
Senate Bill 238 was approved
last week by the upper chamber,
but House Bill 488 still has to go to
a vote in both chambers.
Ten PDP representatives had
opposed the gay rights bill. They
were Brenda López, Víctor Vassallo, Narden Jaime, Lydia Méndez,
Javier Aponte, José Rodríguez,
Luis Raúl Torres, César Hernández, Armando Franco and Roberto
Rivera.
Senate President Eduardo
Bhatia said the upper chamber was
going to concur with the amendments.
Lawmakers also discussed
with the governor the proposed
budget and legislative reforms.

Great news from Puerto Rico. The legislature gave final approval to two bills which will improve the public policy position of LGBT residents on the island. One bill with strengthen anti-discrimination protection in employment ...

The Puerto Rican House of Representatives today (May 24) approved anti-discrimination legislation that would protect LGBT people in employment, housing, governmental services, public accommodations and private ...

LOS ANGELES -- Until about a month ago, Robbie Rogers had no interest in being one of the highest-profile openly gay athletes in the world.

Rogers didn't want the pressure or attention, and he was weary of soccer itself. After coming out and simultaneously retiring in February, the former MLS champion and U.S. national team player planned to devote himself to fashion school and family, not soccer or social change.

Rogers told The Associated Press he changed his mind when he realized how much he still loved his sport - and how much good he could do by playing it instead of standing on the sideline.

"I don't know what I was so afraid of," Rogers said. "It's been such a positive experience for me. The one thing I've learned from all of this is being gay is not that big of a deal to people."

Rogers joined the Los Angeles Galaxy of Major League Soccer on Saturday, agreeing to a multiyear contract in another step by openly gay athletes in professional sports.

The 26-year-old Rogers recently thought he would never pull on another jersey, imagining nonstop scrutiny and criticism. His concerns were eased by the strong support he received from family, fans and players, including Galaxy star Landon Donovan.

Now Rogers is eager to be more than a footnote. He is determined to thrive as the league's first openly gay player.

"People are just really growing and accepting and loving," Rogers said. "Those other things are just not that important to them. I think as the younger get older and the generations come and go, I think times are just becoming more accepting."

Not Many Roles For Latino Actors In HollywoodHuffington PostIn 2010, he was awarded the Imagen Award for best supporting actor in ”La Mission,” a film in which he played the leading role of a gay young man. Throughout his career, he has also appeared in Disney Channel .... in North Carolina, but she certainly ...and more »

... Galaxy, and he did. Rogers took the field for the Galaxy, breaking barriers for gay people in sports as he became the first openly gay male to... ... Dear Kieran and Charlie: Orlando Cruz is Puerto Rican. Glenn Burke is black.

WASHINGTON -- Three U.S. states and three countries have approved same-sex unions just in the two months since the Supreme Court heard arguments over gay marriage, raising questions about how the developments might affect the justices' consideration of the issue.

In particular, close observers on both sides of the gay marriage divide are wondering whether Justice Anthony Kennedy's view could be decisive since he often has been the swing vote on the high court.

It is always possible that Justice Kennedy is reading the newspapers and is impressed with the progress," said Michael Klarman, a Harvard University law professor and author of a recent book on the gay marriage fight.

In earlier cases on gay rights and the death penalty, Kennedy has cited the importance of changing practices, both nationally and around the world.

The court is expected to rule by late June in two cases involving same-sex marriage. One is a challenge to California's voter-approved Proposition 8 that defines marriage as the union of a man and a woman. The other seeks to strike down a portion of the federal Defense of Marriage Act that denies to legally married same-sex couples a range of benefits that generally are available to married heterosexuals.

Puerto Rico forces employers to hire gay applicantsWorld MagazineIn a statement, Puerto Rico for Family, a local Christian organization, maintained the gay and lesbian community in Puerto Rico has not proved it faces greater employment discrimination than other groups, suggesting the legislation's supporters had ...and more »

One family's struggle. On the other hand, Puerto Rico's Supreme Court reiterated its decision to deny Ángeles Acosta the right to adopt the biological daughter of her partner, Carmen Milagros Vélez, after they had submitted a petition for reconsideration to the Court [they had their daughter as a couple].... In this new discourse of the Good versus the Bad Gay, that what is being policed is class as much as sexuality. Under the Saltire ...Visit our special coverage page » ...

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Alejandro Garcia Padilla - Google News | The Madurization of Puerto Rico: "Governor Padilla and his administration have taken a series of disturbing steps that have culminated in contracts with private investors being shredded, the use of government forces to intimidate and retaliate against private individuals and interests..."

This blog announces the international competition for the best Alejandro García Padilla cartoons